The Week Ahead in the European Parliament – December 15, 2017

Next week is constituency week for Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”). MEPs will go back to their home countries to handle national issues or convene in their parliamentary delegations to work on matters related to non-EU Member States.

Next week is also the last week of parliamentary activities before the holiday break. MEPs will suspend their activities until January 8, 2017. This Week Ahead will therefore return on Friday, January 5, 2018.

This week, the European Parliament held the last plenary session of 2017 in Strasbourg.

On Tuesday, MEPs approved a report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (“ECON”) and the Committee on Budgets (“BUDG”) that proposes extending the European Fund for Strategic Investments (“EFSI”) until 2020. The report also recommends that additional funds be provided to finance projects with the most promising social and economic returns in the EU. See the report here.

On Thursday, MEPs also voted in favor of a resolution on a European Strategy for Low-Emission Mobility. The Parliament seeks to focus on transport to reduce green gas emissions and meet the EU’s reduction target set by the Paris Agreement. The resolution calls on the European Commission and EU Member States to adopt initiatives to enhance the development of low-emission transport. Among these initiatives, the Parliament calls on the EU Member States to speed up the implementation of the Single European Sky, and on the European Commission to adopt an ambitious action plan for the market uptake of electric vehicles. See the resolution here.

In closing, we wish you a wonderful holiday season!

Meetings and Agenda

No official meetings in the European Parliament are scheduled before January 8, 2018.